It's a ****** thing to do. He played their relationship up numerous times and is now backtracking about that. Think of the people who have actually had the love of their life die, this whole thing is insulting to them. It's kind of ****** when you have someone get on their soapbox and use the fake death of someone to get a attention.

I don't even think he is necessarily a bad guy for doing this, I just find it hilarious that people are still defending his actions.

I'm only defending him in the sense that I understand why he did it. ...and that was to keep the attention off of the story in the weeks leading up to the Championship game.

If it comes out that the started this whole thing up from scratch, then he is demented. But even then, so what? It doesn't bother me that there is a demented football star out there in the world. There's a lot worse things. I get what a temporary thrill it would be to tease him about, but the arguments being made here are like he deserves the death sentence or something. It's gone beyond just criticizing him. ...but criticizing his race and religion too! That to me is WOW.

Listening to local radio... it's split here. People are on both sides. Of course people think he's stupid to be in an oline relationship that long without meeting her. There's a lot of hard to believes about the story and a lot of easy to believes. It's all true and people can't wrap their heads around it.

Bottom line, I never was a fan of Manti (you didn't see me going "Colt Brennan" on him) on these forums the last 4 years. I questioned how genuine he was about his religion since BYU pulled their scholarship from him and he didn't go on a mission. But it was a nice story that a kid from Hawaii made it big.

For the most part, same here. Never seemed to have that laid back braddah vibe about him, more of a poser. That's why it's hard for me to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I'm only defending him in the sense that I understand why he did it. ...and that was to keep the attention off of the story in the weeks leading up to the Championship game.

If it comes out that the started this whole thing up from scratch, then he is demented. But even then, so what? It doesn't bother me that there is a demented football star out there in the world. There's a lot worse things. I get what a temporary thrill it would be to tease him about, but the arguments being made here are like he deserves the death sentence or something. It's gone beyond just criticizing him. ...but criticizing his race and religion too! That to me is WOW.

Nobody is demanding he even go to jail let along get the death penalty. Nobody is criticizing his religion because of what he did and I don't really see anybody criticizing his race. I am not sure what your point is. Do you think nobody should be allowed to criticize him at all? I do like how in the middle of your post you seem to be attempting to act a tad holier than thou by mentioning that teasing him is a temporary thrill. I have nothing against you sir but you have to see how hilarious this whole situation is.

I'm only defending him in the sense that I understand why he did it. ...and that was to keep the attention off of the story in the weeks leading up to the Championship game.

If it comes out that the started this whole thing up from scratch, then he is demented. But even then, so what? It doesn't bother me that there is a demented football star out there in the world. There's a lot worse things. I get what a temporary thrill it would be to tease him about, but the arguments being made here are like he deserves the death sentence or something. It's gone beyond just criticizing him. ...but criticizing his race and religion too! That to me is WOW.

For the record, BYU pulled the scholarship because he got caught drinking on his visit. His parents threatened to sue the school if they spoke of it.

D, gotta love Laie brah "/

Gotta ack, u know dat! So funny how small da world is... my sister's friend's brother was dea drinkin' with him! My other sister's friend was renting a room from the Te'o fam when she was going to BYUH. She told me one time, dat one of da family's cousins pretended that he was kidnapped. So da family went out to look for him in da middle of da night. He told dem in da morning dat he was just joking. How u like dat? Mento ah?

For the record, BYU pulled the scholarship because he got caught drinking on his visit. His parents threatened to sue the school if they spoke of it.

D, gotta love Laie brah "/

Didn't know that part. Just another reason why I can't believe this dude or his dad/fam. I thought maybe Bronco decided to keep it in house, and that sending him home and taking his schollie was enough punishment.

Nobody is demanding he even go to jail let along get the death penalty. Nobody is criticizing his religion because of what he did and I don't really see anybody criticizing his race. I am not sure what your point is. Do you think nobody should be allowed to criticize him at all? I do like how in the middle of your post you seem to be attempting to act a tad holier than thou by mentioning that teasing him is a temporary thrill. I have nothing against you sir but you have to see how hilarious this whole situation is.

Honestly, I had little to no opinion on Te'o as a person up until probably yesterday. Now that it's looking more and more like it was a hoax, maybe I should be saying 'Poor Manti' but I really can't help but think that this hoax was so successful and lasted so long because Te'o is a delusional narcissist. The question of 'how ******* stupid can you be to fall for this for 3 years' is fair but I think it's more about him being delusional than stupid. She was in a coma but when she heard his voice on the phone, her heartbeat picked up and she started crying all because of how much she loved him. Is that not some of the most self-centered bullsh*t you've ever heard? Get over yourself. This is the guy who fabricated a cheesy love story on how they met and went out of his way to convince the media he was the world's greatest and most loving boyfriend of all time. He just took this story and ran with it. Makes your question if he came back to ND for any other reason than glory (to have people love him). Also as bizarre as it is that he fell so deeply in love with someone he'd never met, it's just as delusional and narcissistic to believe that someone he'd never met felt the same way about him. It just bothers me now when I hear him talking about their 'relationship' and how much she loved him.

Though maybe we can blame his narcissism on his upbringing. His dad threatened to sue BYU if they released the drinking story and did the same when a newspaper was going to put a picture of him missing a tackle. Same dad who calls Manti at halftime of every game to tell him what to do. Obviously the family and the dad in particular is extremely insecure about outside perception of Manti. Can't help but think that overprotected-it's-all-about-Manti attitude was how he was raised. But that's all I'll say about that - just a little anecdotal thing that could explain why he is the way he is.

Being a pathological narcissistic isn't a crime and doesn't make one a villain necessarily, but it's hard for me to be sympathetic towards him because of it. If I'm being honest, I'm finding it harder and harder like not dislike him the more I hear even if he's was completely oblivious to this all.

I don't understand how people get a free pass just because its a touchy or complicated subject. People should own their actions and he hasn't owned anything. We know that he kept the lie going and made football more important than real life. D's argument is that it doesn't matter because she was fake, so nobody is hurt. However, its the same slippery bs slope that has plagued college football. Its abuse of power by people controlling the situation for their own benefit. Its selfish and without some form of check then that kind of abuse spreads and its why we live in such a sissy and selfish world.

Inspiring his teammates? Not hurting his team? He can do that by playing hard and believing in them. Why continue the fake death crap? No, it was wrong. People need to guard against the mentality that protecting the fort over telling the truth is an ok thing to do.

Okay, say he didn't want to cause a huge distraction by coming forward before the National Championship game...

So why didn't he open up AFTER the game? He had just over a week to be honest and, of course, he didn't.

And don't tell me you actually believe that BS that he was just about to come forward but then Deadspin beat him to the punch. If you (or anyone) bought that load of hogwash...

Well the fact that he came forward with this to ND takes some blame off of him already. The school started a private investigation on it. Is it that inconceivable to think that they wanted to wait until the investigation was over before coming forward to the public?

The fact that Deadspin came forward first doesn't mean that Te'o/ND never would have done so. Does that answer your question?

I don't understand how people get a free pass just because its a touchy or complicated subject. People should own their actions and he hasn't owned anything. We know that he kept the lie going and made football more important than real life. D's argument is that it doesn't matter because she was fake, so nobody is hurt. However, its the same slippery bs slope that has plagued college football. Its abuse of power by people controlling the situation for their own benefit. Its selfish and without some form of check then that kind of abuse spreads and its why we live in such a sissy and selfish world.

Inspiring his teammates? Not hurting his team? He can do that by playing hard and believing in them. Why continue the fake death crap? No, it was wrong. People need to guard against the mentality that protecting the fort over telling the truth is an ok thing to do.

Oh gosh, now this is representing everything wrong in the world? We live in an imperfect world. This story is his to own. But he doesn't deserve to take on everything that has "plagued college football".

Honestly, I had little to no opinion on Te'o as a person up until probably yesterday. Now that it's looking more and more like it was a hoax, maybe I should be saying 'Poor Manti' but I really can't help but think that this hoax was so successful and lasted so long because Te'o is a delusional narcissist. The question of 'how ******* stupid can you be to fall for this for 3 years' is fair but I think it's more about him being delusional than stupid. She was in a coma but when she heard his voice on the phone, her heartbeat picked up and she started crying all because of how much she loved him. Is that not some of the most self-centered bullsh*t you've ever heard? Get over yourself. This is the guy who fabricated a cheesy love story on how they met and went out of his way to convince the media he was the world's greatest and most loving boyfriend of all time. He just took this story and ran with it. Makes your question if he came back to ND for any other reason than glory (to have people love him). Also as bizarre as it is that he fell so deeply in love with someone he'd never met, it's just as delusional and narcissistic to believe that someone he'd never met felt the same way about him. It just bothers me now when I hear him talking about their 'relationship' and how much she loved him.

Though maybe we can blame his narcissism on his upbringing. His dad threatened to sue BYU if they released the drinking story and did the same when a newspaper was going to put a picture of him missing a tackle. Same dad who calls Manti at halftime of every game to tell him what to do. Obviously the family and the dad in particular is extremely insecure about outside perception of Manti. Can't help but think that overprotected-it's-all-about-Manti attitude was how he was raised. But that's all I'll say about that - just a little anecdotal thing that could explain why he is the way he is.

Being a pathological narcissistic isn't a crime and doesn't make one a villain necessarily, but it's hard for me to be sympathetic towards him because of it. If I'm being honest, I'm finding it harder and harder like not dislike him the more I hear even if he's was completely oblivious to this all.

/internet psych analysis

I do believe his dad is nutty. He even called out the local paper for publishing a pic in the headlines of Manti on the ground missing a tackle against Alabama. He didn't like that the local paper would make a local boy look bad. That was stupid. Te'o does nothing for the local media. He doesn't come on radio shows, show up at local events... he's put his arms distance to the locals here, so I don't see why we need to act like he's "Hawaii's boy". Dude didn't even give the University of Hawaii a visit. He has a small knit community who knows him from the town he's from, but that's it. Everyone else just knows him as the guy who went to ND.

Well the fact that he came forward with this to ND takes some blame off of him already. The school started a private investigation on it. Is it that inconceivable to think that they wanted to wait until the investigation was over before coming forward to the public?

The fact that Deadspin came forward first doesn't mean that Te'o/ND never would have done so. Does that answer your question?

Manti Te'o gets a pass for not being media savvy, he's a fairly sheltered 21 year old and most of those aren't media savvy.

But Notre Dame is incredibly image conscious and skillfully plays the media all the time. You'd think that ND at least would want to get out in front of this story so as to control public perception. It's surprising to me that they didn't.

ND had completed their private investigation so there goes that part of your argument.

Once again, if you actually believe that Te'o/ND were going to come forward voluntarily...I have no words, just actions...

What if after he told ND that they told him to keep it hush? Do you still blame him?

What if he can't come forward now because if he does, he makes the school look bad for suggesting a cover up in the first place? What if the real truth goes against some of what the ND president said??? He'll end up being alienated from his alma mater.

Oh gosh, now this is representing everything wrong in the world? We live in an imperfect world. This story is his to own. But he doesn't deserve to take on everything that has "plagued college football".

I was actually referring to you and people like you who say that its ok for people to not be responsible for their actions. So technically, you are part of the reason why we live in a sissy and selfish world. You and your ilk should stop coddling these people.

If people didn't make excuses and allow people to live in their own fantasy lands, then they would stand a better chance of knowing right from wrong.

*also, didn't deadspin talk to Notre Dame and were told that they would release something Monday, but instead waited for days until finally breaking the story? They had given Notre Dame and Te'o every opportunity.

I was actually referring to you and people like you who say that its ok for people to not be responsible for their actions. So technically, you are part of the reason why we live in a sissy and selfish world. You and your ilk should stop coddling these people.

If people didn't make excuses and allow people to live in their own fantasy lands, then they would stand a better chance of knowing right from wrong.

*also, didn't deadspin talk to Notre Dame and were told that they would release something Monday, but instead waited for days until finally breaking the story? They had given Notre Dame and Te'o every opportunity.

I do agree that there is a large problem with coddling and the need to be politically correct all of the time. Despite acting like one Te'o is not in fact a child. I have a feeling he will own up to nothing and just wait for the next big news story, hoping this whole thing gets swept under the rug. Many people just do not want to be held accountable for their actions. Again, not saying he is an awful person for this if he was in fact duped but I think Tackle raised a good point about him being a delusional narcissist at the very least.

I do agree that there is a large problem with coddling and the need to be politically correct all of the time. Despite acting like one Te'o is not in fact a child. I have a feeling he will own up to nothing and just wait for the next big news story, hoping this whole thing gets swept under the rug. Many people just do not want to be held accountable for their actions. Again, not saying he is an awful person for this if he was in fact duped but I think Tackle raised a good point about him being a delusional narcissist at the very least.

Honestly, that's exactly what I would do. I'll be surprised and impressed if he does anything else.

Confrontation breeds excellence. Everybody should be challenged. Te'o should be challenged, Notre Dame should be challenged, and our arguments should be challenged. At the end, we'll have a better class of linebacker, school administrators, and posters.

Nope, Te'o shouldn't go to jail, but there needs to be some kind of warning against profitting(or not being harmed) by this story being told earlier. That's assuming that Te'o is still completely innocent and Tuosomethingopo acted alone and Te'o didn't know earlier in the awards season. Deleting twitter messages in November from the fake sister's account is suspicious enough to warrant a better explanation from him.

I was actually referring to you and people like you who say that its ok for people to not be responsible for their actions. So technically, you are part of the reason why we live in a sissy and selfish world. You and your ilk should stop coddling these people.

If people didn't make excuses and allow people to live in their own fantasy lands, then they would stand a better chance of knowing right from wrong.

*also, didn't deadspin talk to Notre Dame and were told that they would release something Monday, but instead waited for days until finally breaking the story? They had given Notre Dame and Te'o every opportunity.

I don't know if it's ok for him to do what he did. I don't know the full story. All I'm saying is that I can see why he did what he did in my perception of the story.

I don't know how you interpreted anything I said to mean that I don't think people should take responsibility for their own actions. He told ND about it. After that, whether they made a group decision on how to go forward, it's already partially out of his hands.

If the AD tells him don't say anything yet, what do you expect him to do? The fact that you're not even trying to understand the scenario and only want to punish him and use him as the scapegoat for everything that's wrong in college football is weird.

This story will follow him wherever he goes the rest of his life. What more do you want from him?

Confrontation breeds excellence. Everybody should be challenged. Te'o should be challenged, Notre Dame should be challenged, and our arguments should be challenged. At the end, we'll have a better class of linebacker, school administrators, and posters.

Nope, Te'o shouldn't go to jail, but there needs to be some kind of warning against profitting(or not being harmed) by this story being told earlier. That's assuming that Te'o is still completely innocent and Tuosomethingopo acted alone and Te'o didn't know earlier in the awards season. Deleting twitter messages in November from the fake sister's account is suspicious enough to warrant a better explanation from him.

You still keep avoiding the answer to "what if the school told him to hold off on saying anything".

The fact that you're not even trying to understand the scenario and only want to punish him and use him as the scapegoat for everything that's wrong in college football is weird.

I still don't know what you are talking about and think you are just trying to win the argument. The scenario is that Te'o pretended that he had a girlfriend that died of leukemia after he knew it was fake. If someone told him to do that then they need to be punished in some way. If he continued it, then he should definitely get the kind of backlash that he is getting. No, there is no jail time or fine that would cover it, but he deserves the criticism when comparing the lie with his dead grandmother.

And again, I was stating that people like you make it possible for abuses of power in college football. Well, atleast your previous argument was making it possible, to be more kind.

I still don't know what you are talking about and think you are just trying to win the argument. The scenario is that Te'o pretended that he had a girlfriend that died of leukemia after he knew it was fake. If someone told him to do that then they need to be punished in some way. If he continued it, then he should definitely get the kind of backlash that he is getting. No, there is no jail time or fine that would cover it, but he deserves the criticism when comparing the lie with his dead grandmother.

And again, I was stating that people like you make it possible for abuses of power in college football. Well, atleast your previous argument was making it possible, to be more kind.

Your suggestion is ridiculous. You would've wanted him to come forward about it after ND told him not too?

He'd be blackballed by his alma mater, he would've caused a huge disruption leading to the Championship game, and the school's ability to do a private investigation on it would've been harder to do once the news became public.

Let's be real here. There are legit reasons for the cover up. The situation needed to be handled carefully.

Oh and it has nothing to do with abuse of power in college football. Stop trying to use this situation as the Pin up Child for everything wrong in college football. My goodness.